World Kidney Day at WWL

Staff at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust took part in World Kidney Day to raise awareness of how important our kidneys are.

Jayne Gulliford, an Acute Kidney Specialist at Wigan RAEI, visited different wards handing out bottles of water to encourage more people to stay hydrated, which is vital to helping your kidneys to stay healthy.

To help raise awareness, Jayne also handed out little bags of kidney-shaped jelly beans as a sweet treat.

Jayne said; “The response to the work we’ve done today has been great.

“A lot of staff have been on board and helped spread the word.”

Kidney disease is common, affecting over three million people in the UK. However, it can go undetected as people often have no symptoms.

People with high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, have a family history of kidney disease or certain ethnic groups, have a higher risk of developing kidney disease.

The good news is that early detection, a change in lifestyle habits and a healthy diet can often slow down the progression of the disease.

Jayne has worked for the Trust for just over ten years and has been working as an Acute Kidney Injury Specialist Nurse for three years, raising awareness every year to let people know how important your kidneys are.

Dr Sanjay Arya, Medical Director for WWL said; “What Jayne and the rest of Lowton Ward/Medical assessment unit are doing, by raising awareness is really great for our patients and staff.

“We need to raise awareness of this life-threatening problem. The more people know about kidney health, the better.”